


TWD Crossover Origins- Carver vs. The Governor

by TheLoneWalker



Series: TWD Crossover [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Inspired by The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-10-13 04:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20576141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLoneWalker/pseuds/TheLoneWalker
Summary: After the meeting with Rick Grimes fails, the Governor seeks out the perfect place to re-locate the children and elderly while Woodbury rages war. He finds Carver's Howes store, rich with food, water, and shelter...but he isn't taking it peacefully. Takes place during season 2 episode 3 "In Harm's Way" of the Telltale series and after season 3 episode 13 "Arrow on the Doorpost" of the television series.





	1. Breach

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically the origin story of how the Telltale characters met Rick and the survivors. The story will be continued from season 4 of the show until, hopefully, the show's current season. I must warn you, this is a repost from Fanfiction.net and I was 14 when I originally wrote it...so brace for cringe.

**Just outside Carver's Camp**

"We came this far to find as much supplies as we need. Now when we go in there, you all know what you're supposed to look for. Is that right?" The Governor said to his people.

"Right, sir." A few of them said together.

"Okay. Be ready." The Governor said. 

"This could be a good place to put our children and elderly while we take care of business back home." Martinez said to the Governor. 

"Could be. But we need to be sure." The Governor said. 

"It's locked down pretty tight. You think there's still people living in here?" Andrea asked getting out of one of the trucks.

"Well if there is...we know what to do with them." The Governor said loading his gun. "Let's move!" He shouted. 

Shumpert drove the military truck up to the front of the store. Two guys got out and placed hooked chains that were attached to a truck on one of the wooden barriers. One of the guys signaled to the driver. The truck revved the engine and pulled forward at full force, pulling off the wooden barrier apart.

  
**Inside Carver's Camp**

"-and how is it that we're repaid with our trust? With treachery...? With deceit...? With theft?" Carver was saying in front of all the camp prisoners. Luke was on the ground holding his stomach in pain. Carlos was knelt down next to him taking a look at him. 

"What's going on?" Clementine asked Kenny when they entered the area. 

"I don't know, Clem." Kenny answered. 

Carver continued. "Whatever you were planning is over...it's done. You can't just run from your problems. You can't just up and leave when it gets tough...'cause there's nowhere else you can go where it ain't. Tough is all we got, now. Get that through your f****n' skulls. Luke here he can't help you now...you gotta help yourselves...you gotta help me find the strength to forgive you. Now you can start...by telling me where the other one is. I'm gonna count to three. If that radio isn't in my hand by then, we'll have to make things more difficult. One! Two!..." 

"I've got-" Clementine was caught off by Kenny, who grabbed the radio from her and raised it in the air.

  
"It's right here. I got it." Kenny said.

Carver held out his hand. 

"Sorry about that...not sure what I was thinking." Kenny said dropping the radio in Carver's hand. 

"Three." Carver said. 

"...heh. F****r." Kenny said. Carver hit Kenny in the face with the radio, knocking him to the ground. He then grabbed Kenny by the shirt and started punching him repeatedly. "Stop him! Somebody stop him! Let me go!" Sarita screamed in horror as Carlos held her back.

Clementine runs to help Kenny but Troy butts her in the face with his gun, knocking her to the ground. "You little s**t." He said.

Carver continued to punch Kenny unconscious. 

"Bill! That's enough, Bill! Please!" Bonnie yelled rushing over. "Bill, there's a breech!" She said.

Carver gave Kenny one more punch, knocking him flat on the ground. Blood was pouring from Kenny's left eye.

"All right, everyone come with me. Bonnie, you stick around. Make sure these folks don't get into any more trouble." Carver said. 

"Yeah...okay." Bonnie replied, looking down at the bloodied Kenny remorsefully.

"No supper for y'all tonight. Maybe an empty stomach'll give you some perspective...then we'll try this again tomorrow." Carver said and then left the area with Troy and Tavia. 

"Do your best with him, Carlos. You need to get him able to move, 'cause we're leavin' tonight. We're leavin' tonight." Bonnie said kneeling on the floor to help Clementine. Luke and Carlos looked at Bonnie in surprise that she would actually help them. "We're leaving tonight." She said again. 

  
**At the front entrance**

When Carver got to the front the Governor's group was in a stand-off with the camp's guards. "What the f*ck is going on here?!" Carver yelled walking over with Tavia and Troy. "You tore down our barriers. You better have a very good explanation if you wanna live." Carver said after drawing his gun on the Governor. 

"Whoa! Whoa there, pal. We just want to talk. I can see you're doing well for yourself, so how about we make a deal? Just put the guns down." The Governor said. 

"You see, that's not how it works. Y'all put your guns down first." Carver said. 

The governor signaled for his people to lower their guns. They did as commanded. "You see? We don't want to hurt anybody. We just need to talk. I'm Phillip, but my people call me the governor." He said. 

Carver reluctantly lowered his gun and the rest of his people did the same. "William Carver. We can talk in my office." He said. 

Carver, Troy, and Tavia led the Governor, Andrea, and Martinez up to the main office while everyone else stayed where they were.

"You people seem pretty organized. How long has this camp been up and running?" Andrea asked Carver. 

"Long enough to create a strong community. We're almost 50 people strong now." Carver replied. 

"Seems like we're in the same boat. I have a community of my own that I'm trying to protect. Maybe you could understand." The Governor said.

They got to the office and Carver sat at his desk. The Governor sat in the chair in front of the desk. "So what is your business here? Our people's gonna need to know." Carver asked. 

"We just stumbled upon this place looking for supplies. Figured it'd be a good place to look." The Governor said. 

"That still doesn't explain why you decided to break in by tearing down our barrier. That right there was grounds for shooting you on site, Mr. Governor." Carver said.

"Well, we didn't see any lookouts. We didn't hear anything coming from inside. It was almost like there was no one here." The Governor said.

"Well now you know there are people here. So what now? You want some type of trade deal or something?" Carver asked.

"I have to be honest with you Carver, there's another reason we came here." The Governor said.

"And that is what?"

"Lately we've been having a little trouble with a different group. They attacked us at our home and we need to get rid of them before things get out of hand. But we can't have our kids and elderly in the mix. This is the perfect place for them to stay."

"That doesn't sound too bad. We could always use some more people. If that's what you're proposing we may just have a deal." Carver said.

"I'm glad we could reach an agreement that's mutually beneficial." The Governor said standing up. 

"Likewise. Come back in a day or two and we'll discuss some more." Carver said.

The Governor left the room with Andrea and Martinez. 

"Phillip, there are over a hundred kids and elderly back at Woodbury. This place can't possibly hold all our people plus the people already living here." Martinez said.

"And not to mention all the supplies that'll be coming in." Andrea added. 

"Don't worry about that. We'll just wait for the right time, make this Carver guy feel comfortable. Then, we'll just take this place." The Governor said. 


	2. Captured

**The next day**

Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, and Merle were loading up their weapons and getting ready to track down the Governor. They expected the Governor to attack them first, but it didn't happen. They decided to look for him and take him out themselves.

"Where do you think he went?" Daryl asked.

" I don't know, but I'm sure we can find him. You, Merle, and Michonne are good trackers." Rick answered. 

"Yeah, on foot. Not by car." Daryl said. 

"We'll do our best." Rick said.

"If we do find him, a direct approach might be suicide. Who knows how many people he still has." Maggie said.

"I saw a decent amount when me and Maggie were captured." Glenn said.

"We won't do a direct approach. If we do this right, we'll have the element of surprise on our side." Rick said. "You think you can handle that, Merle?" He asked.

"Lemme ask you something. After we do this, that make us friends or something, Officer Friendly? Hm? You think I'm just gonna forgive you for cuffing me to that roof?" Merle asked.

"I don't care if we're friends or not. We're only bringing you because we need the extra support. And so you don't screw anything up here." Rick said.

"Can you at least try not to be an a**hole through this?" Daryl asked.

"Can't promise anything, baby brother." Merle said. "Just know, when we find the Governor, I'm the one putting a bullet in him."

Rick just glared at Merle. 

Michonne entered the cell block they were preparing in.

"When I was watching Woodbury yesterday, I saw about 3 cars leave. We could stop by Woodbury and follow the tracks from there." Michonne said. 

"That's good. We should go now. We're burning daylight." Rick said, holstering his colt python.

The 6 of them headed outside and got into a Van. "Dad, make sure you come back." Carl said. 

"We'll be okay, Carl." Rick said. 

"Don't worry, kid. Your dad's tough." Daryl said.

Rick put his hand on Carl's shoulder. "I need you to watch over things while we're gone. You need to keep Judith and everyone safe." Rick said.

"I will dad." Carl said.

Rick got in the van and Carl watched as they drove off.

* * *

**Carver's Camp**

"Ow...dang it." Clementine said, sitting up in her bed and feeling the bruise on her face. The group is sitting around the bonfire. Sarita is crying and Luke and Mike are talking to Bonnie. Clementine walked over.

Luke and Mike came back from talking to Bonnie at the gate.

"What'd she say?" Rebecca asked as Luke and Mike sat down.

"She said she can get us out of the pen if we can get the PA system going. Second she hears it, she'll run over and spring us." Mike explained.

"That's great." Rebecca said. 

"It's not great." Luke said.

"What are you talking about?" Rebecca asked. 

"Look, I know part of this was my fault, I- I know. I was hungry, I was reckless trying to get some food, and I got caught." Luke said. 

"But why isn't it great?" Clementine asked. 

"Because most of us are beat to sh*t. Or pregnant. And besides that, it's risky as h*ll." He said.

"It is pretty d**n risky, guys." Nick said. 

"Risky? Did you see what that sonuvab***h just did? Look, the plan works. Nothing needs to change. It's all set up. The hard part is done. This guy's f**king crazy. Who knows what he'll do next." Mike said. 

"Yeah, but now we're dealin' with a guy beat to sh*t, Sarita in no shape to do anything, and I'm a godd*mn mess. Look, we should rest up, okay? We should bide our time, and we should wait for an opening." Luke suggested. 

"Bonnie's agreed to help us tonight." Mike said. 

"And that doesn't mean she can't do it some _other_ night." Luke argued.

"I don't know, guys...Luke's makin' sense. Maybe we should wait." Nick agreed. 

"We're NOT waiting." Rebecca said firmly.

"Ain't nothin' out there, guys. Trust me, I looked! There's no food, no supplies. They picked everything clean." Luke said. 

"Where's Kenny?" Clementine asked. 

"Doc's over there workin' on him. It don't look good." Luke answered. 

Carlos walked over to the rest of the group, looking down and shaking his head.

"Is he okay?" Clementine asked. 

"His orbital is crushed...I don't think there's much hope for the eye. I got him as stable as I could, cleaned it, got some of the swelling down, bandaged it as best I could...but until he wakes up...we won't know if there's any damage to the brain." Carlos explained.

Rebecca comforted Sarita as she started to cry more.

"Okay, look...maybe I'm just playin' devil's advocate here, but if...d*mnit if y'all are serious about goin' tonight, then we're gonna have to start talkin' about maybe...leavin' some folks behind." Luke said. 

"No!" Sarita yelled. 

"There is NO. OTHER. WAY." Luke said.

"This is bulls**t." Rebecca said. 

"Well, I don't like it either, but guess what? It's where we're at." Luke said. 

"Kenny and I are only here because of you people...and now you intend to leave us behind." Sarita said.

"No! We're not leaving Kenny! That's not fair. We stay together." Clementine argued.

"Life ain't fair, Clem. We're just tryin' to make the best of a bad situation, here. No one wants to leave Kenny." Luke said. 

"Good, cause...you won't have to. Kenny said, limping over. 

Clementine was happy to see Kenny okay and gave him a hug. Sarita, happy and relieved, also hugged Kenny.

"It's alright. I'm alright." Kenny assured.

* * *

**Woodbury**

The Governor, Martinez, Shumpert, and Milton were in the Governor's house going over the plan for tomorrow's attack on Carver's camp. Andrea was sitting nearby. She didn't approve of the Governor breaking his agreement with Carver. She could feel her loyalty slipping.

"We're gonna give them a chance to leave peacefully. If they refuse, we'll eliminate all of them." The Governor said. 

"You sure we have enough people for that? We only have like 30 people that can actually fight and Carver seemed to have at least 50 people in his camp. That's not an even fight. It's not worth the risk." Martinez said.

"I got a pretty good look at some of their people when we were there. A lot of them don't seem like fighters. Our people are experienced and trained. It should be done quickly." The Governor said.

Milton was starting to feel to disapprove of the plan. He was starting to feel sick so he went and sat down on a couch.

Andrea got up from her seat in frustration. "Philip, this is insane. We made a deal. Are you really just gonna dismiss it already? We haven't even tried to make it work." Andrea said.

"We already know that camp can't hold all of our people. They don't have the space and they don't have the supplies. The only way this will work is if their gone." The Governor said.

"But killing them? That's not the way. There are innocent people living there." Andrea said.

"We won't have to kill anyone if they do what we say and leave." The Governor said.

"Yeah, but-"

"But what, Andrea? You gonna try to convince me? My decision is final." The Governor said firmly. Andrea looked at the Governor angrily and started to leave the room. "Andrea." The Governor said, stopping her. She turned to him. "I can tell you're thinking about going back with your people. If you decide to go, there's no coming back." He said.

Andrea just turned and stormed out of the room. The Governor could sense her loyalty slipping fast.

* * *

**Outside Carver's camp**

Rick and the group arrived in the van near Carver's Howes camp. They were concealed by the woods in case anyone might be watching. He turned off the engine and everyone stepped out. 

"Well, the trail ends here. Looks like he stopped here for whatever reason." Michonne said.

"Probably looking for supplies. That place looks like it'd be full of it." Glenn said.

"Do you think he might still be in there?" Maggie asked.

Rick got out a pair of binoculars and looked closely at the Howes store. "It's fortified. He might've bunkered down here. We passed by a lot of walkers on our way here. I think a herd is heading this direction." Rick said.

"So what's the plan. I mean, obviously he wouldn't know we tracked him here. Should we try to get in and surprise 'em?" Daryl suggested.

"If he's here, I'm for sure ain't leaving without killing that sonuvab*tch first. Stop this d*mn dilly-dallying. Lets get in there." Merle said impatiently.

As Rick was still looking through his binoculars, he saw a guard from Carver's camp on top of the roof and assumed he was one of the Governor's soldiers. "Oh, he's here alright. I spotted one of their lookouts." Rick said. "We're gonna go in carefully and quietly. We can't let them know we're here." 

The group carefully made there way to the side of the camp next to the wooden walls. They all took turns helping each other over the wall. When they got to the door that leads inside, Rick turned the nob carefully and slowly opened the door. It wasn't pitch black, but he could barely make out what was inside. "Careful coming through here." Rick whispered.

As soon as they entered the room, the lights shot on, exposing them. They were surrounded by 15 people all pointing guns at them. The group were all pointing their guns back at them when Carver walked in the room with Troy, Bonnie, and Tavia next to him. 

"We saw you in the woods. Looks like your little spec ops mission failed. Maybe you should've payed more attention to who was around." Carver said. Rick was just glaring at him intensely. "I'm gonna need you all to put your guns down."

"Where's the Governor?" Rick asked directly.

"The Governor? Is that who you're looking for? He stopped by, but he left yesterday. Sucks for you." Carver said.

"Then who the hell are you people?" Daryl asked.

"I'm the one asking the questions. Now, I'm gonna tell you one last time, put your f**king guns down." Carver said.

The group reluctantly put their guns on the floor and put their hands up. Troy, Tavia, and Bonnie went over and grabbed all the guns. Some guards went behind the group and zip tied their hands.

"This is bullsh*t." Merle said angrily.

"I wouldn't call protecting my people bullsh*t." Carver said. "Now, this 'Governor' told me about you. He said he had to deal with some people that attacked his home. Seeing as though you came here to, what it looks like, kill him, I'm gonna assume that's you." He added.

"You don't know sh*t." Daryl said angrily.

"I know enough, already. I'm gonna keep you people here as prisoners. I'll give you to The Governor as a little gift." Carver said. He motioned for the Troy and the rest of the guards to take Rick and the group away. 

"Follow us, a**holes." Troy said, aiming his AK at Rick, who was glaring at him.

The group were escorted to the yard where they keep all the other 'prisoners'. When they got there, Troy opened up the fence and led the group inside. A few of the guards untied them.

"Welcome to your new homes." Troy said. He and the guards left and closed the fence behind them.

"Good to know this whole thing was a complete waste of time." Glenn said.

"They have information on The Governor, at least. We can find a way to get some information off of them." Maggie said.

"No. 

"Look. We're not the only prisoners here." Michonne said, looking over at the others in the yard.

Clementine, Kenny, Luke, Rebecca, Nick, Carlos, Sarah, Sarita, Mike, and Jane watched as Rick and the group were escorted in. "Who do you think they are?" Kenny asked.

"I don't know. It looks like they were brought in as prisoners. Just like us." Rebecca said.

Kenny, Clementine, and Luke walked over to Rick and the others.

"Hey, I'm Kenny. This here is Luke and Clementine." Kenny said.

Rick looked at the rest of the group, who were watching Kenny cautiously, and then back to Kenny. "Rick Grimes." He introduced himself. "That's Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and Merle." 

"Nice to meet you all." Luke said.

"Wait, did you say 'Kenny' and 'Clementine'? Oh my god, I remember you. From Atlanta?" Glenn said. Rick and the others looked at each other confused.

Kenny and Clementine's eyes widened and they looked at each other when they realized who Glenn was. "Oh, sh*t. Glenn? From the drugstore!" Kenny said excitedly. 

"Ohhh, yeah! I remember you, too!" Clementine said.

"Yes, the drugstore!" Glenn said.

  
"I thought you deciding to leave would be suicide. It never even crossed my mind that I'd ever see you again. Boy, the world sure does work in mysterious ways." Glenn said. 

"Glenn, you know these people?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah. We met near the start of everything. Before I even met up with the Rick or Daryl, Carol, Shane, and the others in that camp outside Atlanta." Glenn said.

"Can we trust 'em?" Daryl asked.

"Definitely." Glenn assured. "I don't see Lee, I take it he didn't make it?" Glenn asked Kenny.

Clementine looked down sadly. Kenny placed his arm on her shoulder for comfort.

"Lee watched over her for months. He was her guardian angel. He died protecting her." Kenny said.

"I'm sorry. He was a good guy." Glenn said.

"Yeah, he was." Kenny said, looking sadly at the ground.

"I hate to interrupt this little emotional moment, but we still need to figure out how to get the hell out of here." Merle said.

"Look around at the fences, Merle. See that barbed wire? We're stuck. They already locked us in from the only exit." Michonne said.

"You guys should come sit with us. We're trying to escape too. We'll come up with a newer plan, and I'll introduce you to everyone else." Luke said.

The group reluctantly followed Luke, Kenny, and Clementine back over to everyone else.

* * *

A little later, everyone was sitting around the bonfire getting to know each other. Merle was leaning against the wall in the back just watching as he felt like he didn't belong in that gathering and, frankly, he knew he shouldn't be and didn't want to be.

"Me and Clementine met Glenn when this all started. Feels so long ago now. Man, I'm sure we've all been through a lot in the past couple of years." Kenny said to the whole group.

"So you're the leader of your group, right?" Luke asked Rick.

"Yes, I am." Rick answered.

"I'm just curious, how'd you feel about all this when it first started?" Luke asked.

"I actually didn't know about it until two months in." Rick answered.

"How is that even possible?" Rebecca asked.

"I was a sheriff. I was shot on duty. I went into a coma. Woke up in the hospital and the world was just...different. I thought I was dreaming." Rick said.

"D*amn. That must've been very hard to take in." Luke said.

"I mean, just imagine waking up one day and everyone you knew is either dead or missing and society has completely collapsed. I would've thought I was dreaming too." Nick said.

"Alright, enough small talk. How are we getting out of here?" Daryl asked.

"Well first, we need to get our guns back. Does anyone know where they keep them?" Rick asked.

"The storage room is our best bet. It's where they keep most of their supplies." Rebecca said.

"That's good. We just need a group to get the weapons back." Luke said.

As they were talking, Jane, the 'weird' girl that didn't talk to anyone walked over to the group. "I'll go." She said.

The group just stared at her. "The first thing I ever hear you say and it's only when we're hatching an escape plan." Mike said.

"Who are you?" Rick asked.

"I'm Jane. I heard you guys talking about getting out of here and thought I should help." She said.

"But you aren't really a prisoner here. We are." Rebecca said.

"I sure as hell feel like one. Once you're working for Carver you might as well get comfortable because he's not gonna let you leave. I'm not gonna risk getting caught trying to leave myself. So I'm helping you guys and we're getting out together." Jane said.

"Well thanks for the help, I guess. So we have Jane for weapon retrieval. Anyone else?" Luke asked.

"I'll go, too." Michonne said.

"Maggie and I will help." Glenn said.

"Alright so we have our group A." Rick said.

"What about Bonnie? She's supposed to be helping us. Shouldn't she be filled in on the new plan?" Mike asked.

"We can't talk to her right now. We'll talk to her in the morning and keep her updated. I'll let her know to open the gates as soon as the power goes out." Luke said.

"We're gonna need some type of distraction. Something that'll throw them off just enough for us to pull this off." Kenny said.

"This place runs on solar panels, right?" Michonne asked.

"Yeah, they do." Rebecca answered.

"Then all we need is someone to turn those panels off. It'll be dark enough to conceal us and it'll cause a big enough distraction." Michonne said.

"That's a good idea. Clem, Nick, and Mike, that's where you come in. We'll boost you guys up to the ladder that leads to the roof. From there just shut off the power, and that will signal us to start." Luke said.

"That's our group B. As soon as the power is turned out, Bonnie will open the gate and group A will go get the guns. Me, Daryl, Kenny, Luke, and Merle will go to the stockroom and load up the truck with as much supplies as we can. Everyone will meet there when we're done. The truck is our way out of here." Rick said.

"What are the rest of us gonna do?" Rebecca asked.

"You, Carlos, Sarah, and Sarita will come with us when we go to the stockroom. That way if a fight breaks out, you'll have an easy way out." Rick said.

"Okay, so we have our plan." Luke said.

"Um, guys, are we forgetting that there's a massive herd heading this direction. What are we supposed to do about that?" Nick asked.

"That herd shouldn't be problem for us anymore. We have a vehicle to get us the hell out of here." Kenny said.

"Let the herd run right over this place. F*ck 'em." Merle said.

"We live at a prison. It has tall fences. The walkers can't get in. It's safe. We'll take you all there." Rick said.

"A prison? Not very ideal, but it's better than nothing I suppose." Mike said.

"Everyone should get some sleep. We'll need all our energy for tomorrow. We begin before dawn." Rick said.

The group disbanded and went to their areas to sleep. Despite getting to know the others, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, and Maggie slept near each other away from the others as they weren't fully used to them yet. Merle slept by himself away from everyone.

Clementine lied down on her sleeping bag across from Kenny and Sarita.

"I thought about Duck today, about his dumb little face...first things that come to mind are always the dumb things he was doin'. Kid was always running in circles. Everyone d*mn place he went he'd just run. You couldn't stop him...makes it harder to remember he was a good boy." Kenny said sadly. Clementine heard every word, but chose not to say anything. She remembered her good friend, Duck, but talking any further about him would bring back dark memories. "Well, long day tomorrow. One long day." Kenny said.

* * *

**Woodbury**

The Governor gathered all of Woodbury for a public announcement. He climbed on top of one of the army trucks to address the crowd.

"As you know, we were attacked by a group of terrorist raiders. We lost 9 people that haunting night. I want you all to know that our people did not die in vain. We're gonna get rid of these people. We're gonna make sure they can never hurt us again. But there's gonna be a fight. Possibly a fight here at home too. We can't have any children or elderly here if that happens. Just in case, we found a place for you to stay. A Howe's Hardware store. It has fences for protection and plenty of food and supplies. We're gonna improve it and make it better for you all. That's all, everyone." The Governor dismissed the crowd and they disbanded.

The Governor got down from the truck and walked over to Martinez. "Prepare the men, we attack tomorrow at dawn." 


	3. Double-Crossed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick and the survivors launch their plan to escape Carver's camp. The Governor launches his attack on Carver's camp. Carver has to make a choice.

**The next morning**

  


It was early in the morning. The sun hadn’t come up yet and it was dark outside. The Governor, Martinez, Shumpert, and 20 of his soldiers were getting geared up for the potential fight at Carver’s camp. They had everything they needed for a full assault like grenades, machine guns, and a rocket launcher. They were loading all the weapons onto the trucks when Milton approached the Governor.

“If Carver refuses to leave his camp, please don’t kill anyone. Please, Phillip.” Milton said.

The Governor could see the worry in Milton’s eyes and expression. The cowardice and weakness. “Where’s your back bone, huh, Milton? If Carver refuses, whatever happens after that is his own d*nm fault. Sh*t happens.”

“But, Phillip, there are innocent people there. They found that place looking for safety. Don’t kill them.” Milton said.

“They’ll all die if Carver doesn’t listen. That blood will be on his hands.” The Governor said. 

Milton gulped nervously. “You’ve changed, Phillip. You're not the same as before the world turned and you’re only getting worse.” MIlton said.

“Do you really think you can make it in this world without changing?” The Governor asked.

“I think you could still keep your humanity.” Milton said nervously.

The Governor didn’t have a response. He just scoffed at Milton and walked away.

The Governor got into the passenger seat of one of the three trucks. “Lets go!” He shouted. The trucks drove out of the gates of Woodbury and towards Howe’s Hardware Store.

  
  


* * *

**Carver’s Office**

“Those new people we brought in, are we putting them to work or are we getting rid of them?” Troy asked.

“Neither. The Governor should be back soon to talk more about our deal. That’s when I’ll hand those people over as a little gift. I guess it doesn’t really matter how many we give him. We could keep a couple here to work.” Carver said.

Just then, Hank entered the room. “Bill, we have three vehicles approaching outside.” He said.

“He’s here.” Troy said.

Carver and Troy went downstairs with Hank to meet The Governor at the front of the building.

  


* * *

The three army trucks pulled up to Howes as Carver, Troy, Hank, Tavia, and 3 others exited the building. The Governor, Martinez, Shumpert, and the 20 other Woodbury soldiers exited the vehicles. 

“Governor, I assume you’re here to discuss more about our deal.” Carver said.

“I’m afraid there’s been a change of plans, Carver.” The Governor said.

“What do you mean?” Carver asked suspiciously.

“There was something I didn’t mention the first time we met. My community has almost a hundred people living in it. There’s no way there’s any room for them alongside your people.” The Governor said.

“That sure is unfortunate. What do you want me to do about that?” Carver asked.

“No easy way to say this, but we’re gonna need you all to leave. All of you.” The Governor.

Carver chuckled. “Now, you know we can’t do that. This is our home. We’ve been here since the start. I’ll first be consumed by the dead then maggots before I let this place fall.” Carver said.

“You really wanna die for this place?” The Governor asked.

“Are you threatening us?” Carver asked.

“I’ll give you two options. You can either gather all your people and leave now with no one hurt, or you can stay and be destroyed. It’s an easy choice.” The Governor said.

“It’s not. We’re not leaving. I’m open to any further negotiations, but I’m afraid we’re not going anywhere.” Carver said.

Troy walked behind Caver and whispered to him “Bill, what are you doing? I don’t want to leave either, but do you really wanna get everyone killed?” He asked.

“I’m not giving up the community we worked so hard to build, Troy. How about you just go back inside and do something useful.” Carver said.

Troy shook his head in disappointment and went back inside.

“I’m not interested in any negotiations. You either leave or die.” The Governor said.

“We’re not leaving. We’ll lock this place down and hold out forever if we have to. Eventually, you’ll run out of ammunition and you’ll have to leave. Have a nice day, Governor.” Carver said. He and then people that came out with him went back inside the building and tightly locked the doors.

“Big mistake.” The Governor said to himself. He signaled nodded to one of his men and the soldier pulled the rocket launcher out of one of the trucks. 

“Fire on my signal. 3...2..1.”

  


* * *

**Meanwhile…**

  


The group were getting ready to enact their escape plan. It was right at the break of dawn, so it was still a little dark. Luke and Mike walked back over to the group after talking to Bonnie about the new plan.

“What’d she say?” Rebecca asked.

“She said she’s gonna stand guard at the fence while Clem, Mike, and Nick go to the panels. As soon as the lights go out, she’ll open the gate.” Luke said.

“That’s good. You guys should get to it then.” Rick said.

Mike helped boost Nick onto the ladder that leads to the roof. After Luke climbed up, Clementine got on Mike’s shoulders to reach the ladder and she climbed onto the roof. Kenny boosted Mike up and Nick helped him onto the roof.

“Remember, meet us in the stockroom in about 6 minutes. We’ll make our getaway quick.” Rick said.

“We will.” Mike said.

  


After they all got onto the roof, they immediately began unplugging all of the solar panels. Right after the lights went out, there was a loud boom that shook the entire building. Smoke could be seen billowing out from the side of the building.

“What the hell was that?!” Mike said.

“We gotta meet the others quickly!” Clementine said urgently.

  
  


* * *

The Governor’s rocket launcher blew a large hole in the spot where the front doors used to be. The explosion knocked Carver, Troy, Hank, and Tavia off their feet. When they got back up they immediately ran for cover as The Governor’s men started entering the building through the burning gap. 

They immediately opened fire on anyone they could see and Carver and his people returned fire while concealing themselves behind cover.

  


* * *

Rick and the others heard the commotion and immediately ran to the fence to see what’s going on. 

“What the hell is going on?!” Rick asked Bonnie.

“I don’t know, but you guys need to make it quick!” Bonnie said as she lifted open the gate.

“New plan. We’ll all go to the armory together, grab our guns and fight our way out.” Rick said.

“I’m coming with you guys.” Bonnie said.

  


The group quickly made their way to the armory. They grabbed the weapons they came in with and even more. Daryl tossed Carlos, Luke, Kenny, and Jane some guns. 

They all left the armory and began firing on both Carver’s guards and The Governor’s soldiers, taking out multiple people.

“What the f*ck?!” Carver yelled as he turned to see who was shooting at them. “Sh*t, they’re getting away! Get them!” He said to several of his guards.

Daryl unpinned two smoke grenades and rolled them towards the fight and the area quickly filled with smoke, hindering their ability to see. 

Carver watched in horror as 3 of his guards were torn to shreds by machine gun fire. “F*ck! We’re losing too many people!” Carver said to Troy.

As the group is running towards the stockroom, Rebecca trips and falls. She screams out for help but is drowned out by all the gunfire and is hard to see because of the smoke. She is picked up by Martinez and Shumpert and they began to drag her away.

“Let me f*cking go!” Rebecca screamed as they dragged her.

“Shut up, woman. You’re coming with us.” Martinez said.

* * *

The group made it to the stockroom where Clementine, Nick, and Mike were already waiting by the truck. “Everyone grab as many supplies as you can. Make it quick. We need to go now.” Rick said. 

The group started loading the truck with supplies as fast as possible. They were able to load 5 crates of food before they started getting into the back of the truck. Right as Michonne closed the door of the truck, several of Carver’s guards barged into the stockroom. Rick, Daryl, and Luke opened fire on them immediately, killing 2 out of 4 of them. 

Rick ran over to the loading bay door and lifted it open while Luke and Daryl covered him with suppression fire. There were several Woodbury soldiers who noticed him when he opened the door. They opened fire on Rick's position as Rick took cover.

When Rick came out of cover to return fire, The Governor noticed him. "Is that...Rick?" He said to himself. The Governor took matters into his own hands and started shooting at Rick with his assault rifle. 

Rick saw that it was The Governor that was shooting at him and focused fire on him specifically. The Governor ducked behind the army truck to protect himself.

Daryl and Luke finally killed the two remaining Howes guards and turned their attention on Rick. They noticed he was being closed in on. "Rick, catch!" Daryl shouted and tossed Rick a grenade.

Rick unpinned the grenade and tossed it towards the Woodbury soldiers that were shooting at him. The grenade exploded and they were all killed. Rick quickly got into the driver’s seat of the truck and Daryl and Luke got in next to him.

“Go! Get us outta here!” Luke said. Rick drove out of the building and towards the direction of the prison, with bullets from The Governor’s soldiers hitting the back of the truck as they drove away.

“Wait, where’s Rebecca?! DId anyone see Rebecca?!” Carlos asked frantically.

“Oh, God.” Bonnie said.

  
  


* * *

Martinez and Shumpert brought Rebecca over to The Governor as they avoided the gunfire. “We think she's one of Carver's civilians. We figured she’d be our best shot at negotiating. We’ve lost too many men to keep this fight up.” Martinez said.

“Good. Let's end this fight.” The Governor said.

The Governor walked out into the open with his pistol to Rebecca’s head. Carver’s eyes filled with rage.

“Everyone hold your fire!” Carver yelled. All the gunfire in the room came to a halt. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” He asked The Governor.

“Trying to see how smart you are. I’ll make you a deal. If you and your people leave right now, I won’t kill this woman.” The Governor said. “Come on, Carver. You don’t want to be responsible for a pregnant woman’s death, do you?” 

“That’s my f*cking baby she’s carrying. Let her go now, or...I’ll kill you.” Carver said menacingly.

The Governor smiled. “Oh, so it’s _ your _ baby. More reason for you to give up now and go.” He said.

‘“F*ck you both.” Rebecca said.

“I already told you, we’re not going anywhere. So you either let her go and go back home or we can continue killing each other.” Carver said.

“This woman will die in that fight.” The Governor said.

“Won’t matter if both of us are dead already. I’m not giving up this place.” Carver said.

The Governor shrugged. “Fine.” He said. He then signaled for his people to put Rebecca in one of the army trucks. 

The Governor, Martinez, Shumpert, and the 8 remaining soldiers hopped into their trucks and drove off with Rebecca. Carver and his guards shot at the trucks as they drove away.

  
  


About an hour later, while the people at the camp were gathering all of their dead, Troy came across the rocket launcher left behind by The Governor along with 3 rockets. “Oh, sh*t.” Troy said, picking up the launcher.

“What is it?” Carver said as he walked over. Troy showed him what he found and a smile crept onto Carver’s face. “This is gonna come in handy.”


	4. Retaliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The survivors at the prison plan to rescue Rebecca while Carver and his people travel to Woodbury to do the same. Who will come out on top?

The group was in the truck still on there way to the prison. "We need to go back for Rebecca." Bonnie said.

"We stick to the plan." Michonne said.

"What is wrong with you!? We just can't leave her!" Carlos said.

"Calm the hell down We’re gonna go back to the prison and prepare first. We can't possibly take them all on.” Michonne said.

"She’s right, guys. We can’t just go running back in there." Glenn said.

“She may not have much time.” Carlos said.

** **

* * *

**Woodbury**

Rebecca is being held in the same place Glenn and Maggie were when they were captured. She was tied up in a chair. "What do you want from me?" Rebecca asked the Governor.

"Nothing." The Governor said. "But you can provide help for us. Live bait." He added.

"I'm not doing anything for you." Rebecca said.

"You don't have to...he'll come looking for you sooner or later. And when he does, he'll do what I want because you’ll die if he doesn’t." The Governor said.

“You don’t know Bill like me. He won’t negotiate with you. If he wants me back, he’d kill everyone here to do it.” Rebecca said.

“I’m not worried about that. This is a way out for him. A way for him and his people to live. So if he refuses to give up, I’ll kill him and then I’ll go kill everyone in his camp. It wouldn’t even matter by then.” The Governor said. He left the room and closed the door behind him.

He then went outside to talk to Martinez.

“What are we gonna do with her?” Martinez asked.

“When Carver eventually shows up, we’re not gonna need her anymore. We could kill her. We could let her stay here. I don’t know yet.” The Governor said.

“When me and Shump caught her, she was running away with several of Carver’s people. Some of the people from that prison group was with ‘em.” Martinez said.

“Yeah, I saw Rick there. We fired some shots at each other. We need to figure out what that was all about, why they were with them. If we allow that prison group to gather more members, they may grow strong enough to pose an even bigger threat. When we’re done with Carver, we’re gonna have to take them out quick.” The Governor said. 

* * *

**The Prison**

Rick pulled up to the prison and Carl and Carol opened the gate to let the truck in. 

"Finally. You were gone for a day and a half. What happened?" Carl asked Rick as he was getting out.

"We got into a bad situation that we weren't getting out of so soon. We'll talk inside." Rick said.

"Who are they?" Carl asked as he saw the others getting out of the truck.

"They helped us get out." Rick said..

"You gonna introduce us?" Carol asked.

"This is Kenny. This is Luke. That's Clementine, Nick, Mike, Jane, Bonnie, Carlos, Sarah, and Sarita." Rick said pointing to each of them.

"Heya." Kenny said to Carol and Carl.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we should really start trying to figure out how we’re gonna get Rebecca back.” Nick said.

"Yeah, let's get inside. We don't know if we were being followed." Rick said.

Everyone went into the prison together.

"Did you guys take this prison all by yourselves?" Luke asked.

"There were more of us." Carol said.

"Everybody, I want you to meet some people.” Rick said when he entered the group’s cellblock.

When Kenny entered the cellblock, he was stopped in his tracks. His heart began to race and he grew nervous. He saw him. Hershel Greene. The man whose son he was too much of a coward to save. He thought he wouldn’t ever have to look him in the eyes again. All the shame he felt from that day onward came rushing back into his mind. 

Hershel looked at Kenny but saw that he was avoiding eye-contact with him, acting as if he didn’t know he was there, but Hershel knew that he saw him. It would only be a matter of time until they’ll have to acknowledge each other.

* * *

**Carver's Camp**

Everyone left in the camp were cleaning up the dead and killing any walkers that got too close. The noise from the shootout and the explosions drew half of the oncoming herd even closer in their direction.

“How are we doing with the lurkers out there, Hank?” Troy asked over the walkie-talkie.

"_ Well, we're holding them back, so that's a plus. But I don't know for how long. They just keep coming'. _" Hank responded.

"I'll go talk to Bill." Troy said. He went up to Carver’s office. 

**Carver’s Office**

"Bill, we have a problem." Troy said when he opened the office door.

"That son of a b*tch has my baby. We’re gonna go to his home and kill every last person living there. And we’re gonna get Rebecca back.” Carver said.

"Bill, we need to fortify this place! The herd is d*mn near here! It's already hard to fight em' all off and you want to take everyone out on some suicide mission and let this place fall?!" Troy said frustratingly.

“It won’t be a suicide mission! We have a rocket launcher! They won’t stand a chance. Should be quick and easy.” Carver said.

“Bill, they killed 16 of us. All of our prisoners escaped. We can’t afford to go fight a war. We don’t know how many people this ‘Governor’ guy still has.” Troy said.

“Then we’ll take the whole camp. Every single person here will go with us. There’s 30 of us left. We can handle it. We’re gonna kill that bastard.” Carver said.

“They are more armored then us. They have more weapons, military-grade even.” Troy said.

"This guy shows up, blows down our walls, killed your people, almost killed you, and you don't even want to do somethin' about it? Wow, didn’t know you were so soft, Troy." Carver said.

"We need everyone we got to deal with this herd! We’ll die if we go looking for a fight!” Troy said angrily.

"We'll take our chances! That's my baby Rebecca's carrying!” Carver yelled. “If the camp is destroyed, so be it. We need to take them out if we want any chance of rebuilding. Get everyone prepared. We head out in the morning." He said.

Troy grunted and stormed out of the office in frustration.

* * *

**The Prison**

"So what's the plan? We gonna go running back in there?" Kenny asked.

"We’re gonna be outnumbered. It’s best if we try to be discreet. Cars will probably just give our position away." Glenn said.

"We'll go on foot. They probably expect us to come back anyway to rescue Rebecca. We need to be quick with this so we'll use flash bangs and smoke grenades." Rick said.

"Wow, you have that kind of stuff? How'd you get it? You guys are pretty armed to the teeth." Luke said.

"We cleared this whole place out. The armory was full useful stuff. The rest Rick and Michonne found." Daryl said.

"What do we do when we get there?" Maggie asked.

"We know that herd is probably attacking right now so if we're lucky, we can sneak in and get Rebecca while they're distracted without firing a shot. But if that fails, that's what the smoke bombs and flash grenades are for." Rick said.

"Alright, let's get ready." Kenny said getting up.

"Has everyone forgot that the Governor still wants to kill us? Huh? Are we forgetin' about that part? I mean, you made a deal about Michonne but you’re not gonna honor it. The Governor likely wiped out that camp and could be on his way now." Merle said.

"We don’t know what happened there after we left. All we know is that Rebecca was left behind at Carver’s camp. After we get her back, then we’ll deal with The Governor.” Rick said.

"Whatever you say, Officer Friendly." Merle said before walking away. 

"Rick, I don't like this. You're taking way too many people with you. We need some protection here too, you know." He said.

"We need as many people as we can. If we’re going back there to rescue Rebecca, we’ll need all the firepower." Rick said.

"These people you brought in. We don't know them. I don't think leaving us in the same cell block as them is a good idea just yet." Hershel said.

"I trust them. Carlos, Sarita, Sarah, Nick, and Clem are good people. You guys don’t have to worry about them." Rick said.

"If you trust them, then I guess I should trust them as well. You have a good judge of character. Just go rescue that woman and bring her back safely." Hershel said.

"Thanks for understanding. And we’ll get her back.” Rick said.

* * *

**Carver's Camp**

Troy had done what Carver commanded. He armed everyone left in the camp and got them ready to head out.

“Bill, so we’re really doing this?” Shel asked.

“Yes. We have no choice.” Carver said.

Troy shook his head in frustration and disagreement.

“I don’t know, I’m just--I’ve never killed a person. Walkers I can deal with but not people.” Shel said.

“Come on, Shel. You know we have to kill at some point. I’d be glad to put a bullet in the people who destroyed our home.” Becca, her little sister, said.

“We need as many people as we can if we want to deal with this threat. I don’t care if you’ve never killed someone. You’re going. And you’re gonna have to kill if you want to survive the fight.” Carver said. Shel gulped nervously.

“We don’t have any vehicles so we’re walking through the woods. Everyone remember to stay close together and don’t stray from the group.” Rebecca said.

“Everyone move out!” Carver shouted.

Everyone proceeded out of the camp and into the woods.

* * *

**The Prison**

Clementine came into one of the cells that Kenny was sitting in. She was holding a piece of cloth, bandages, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

“Oh, hey, Clem.” Kenny said. He looked down and saw what she had in her hands. “What do you got there? ‘Cause I think I’m alright.” He said.

“I was just talking to Carlos. He wants me to clean your eye and change your bandages.” Clementine said.

Kenny sighed. “You shouldn’t have to do stuff like this.” He said.

“I shouldn’t have to do a lot of things.” Clementine said.

“All right...let's get it over with.” Kenny sighed. Clementine started to lift the bandage but hesitated because she didn’t want to accidentally hurt him. “It’s okay. I trust you.” Kenny reassured.

Clementine unwrapped the bandage around Kenny’s eye and removed it slowly.

“So how’s it look? Am I still gonna be pretty when this thing heals?” Kenny joked. His eye had dried blood all around it and the eyeball itself was dead and black.

“Carver needs to pay for this.” Clementine said.

“Oh, he will, Clem. No need to worry about that.” Kenny said. Clementine put some alcohol on the piece of cloth and prepared to rub it on Kenny’s scars. She looked down at the cloth and back to his eye nervously. “So…?” Kenny said.

“So this is gonna hurt like hell.” Clementine said.

“Well, you could’ve lied a little, ya know.” Kenny joked. Clementine lightly touched the cloth to Kenny’s eye, which sent an intense sting through Kenny’s face. “Aaargh! Holy f*ckin’ hell!” Kenny said, groaning in pain.

“You need to stop squirming.” Clementine said.

“Yeah...yeah, okay. I’m alright.” Kenny said. Clementine continued cleaning the scars.

“You know, you didn’t have to cover for me back at Carver’s place. If I had said I had the radio, I don’t think Carver would have hurt me...like this.” Clementine said.

“Don’t ever think that, darlin’. No telling what that a**wipe would’ve done to you.” Kenny said.

“Well, you’re going back to Carver’s camp today. Maybe you can get some payback for what he did to your eye.” Clementine said.

“I’m hoping.” Kenny said.

“There was something else I wanted to talk to you about. I saw someone familiar when we first got here.” Clementine said.

“I know. You’re talking about Hershel.” Kenny said.

“Yes. I remember what happened that day on his farm. It was scary.” Clementine said.

“I used to think about it all the time. I thought I could be free from it, but seeing Hershel again brought back all those painful memories...I let his son die.” Kenny said.

“All you can do now is try to talk to Hershel. You need to confront this. You two need to heal if you’re going to stay under the same roof.” Clementine said.

“I don’t know if I can, Clem.” Kenny said.

“You can, Kenny. Put that dark memory to rest.” Clementine said.

* * *

**In the woods(Carver’s Group)**

Carver and the remaining 30 people left of the camp were making their way to Woodbury. They were following the tracks of The Governor’s vehicles. Troy, Shel, Becca, Vince, and Wyatt were walking together near the back of the group.

“I can’t believe we’re really doing this. I mean, this is crazy. What is Bill thinking?” Shel said.

“Bill’s losing it. I see it. Y'all see it. It’s only a matter of time until he gets us all killed.” Troy said.

“Even if we do win, what’ll be the cost? So many will die on both sides. Any of us could die.” Vince said.

“Howes could be getting overrun by walkers right now. How could he abandon the camp he was so desperate to expand? It doesn’t make any sense.” Shel said.

“Well, think about it. A guy shows up to your home, gets you to trust him, he betrays you, and then he kidnaps the woman carrying your unborn child. I’d probably be pretty pissed too. The only difference with me, I keep a leveled head even when I’m pissed.” Troy said.

“I don’t know, dude, you’ve done some pretty unnecessary things when you were mad.” Wyatt said.

“Maybe unnecessary to you, Wyatt, but everything I do is for a reason.” Troy said.

“Either way, guys, Carver is leading us to slaughter right now. I have my little sister here. I can’t go fight a war with her here.” Shel said.

“I feel the same. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I do know that if it looks like we’re not gonna win, I’m bailing.” Wyatt said.

“I don’t blame ya.” Vince said.

“Oh, please. You guys are being wimps. I’m not scared at all. I think we’ll win. I’d be glad to kill some of The Governor’s people. They deserve it. I don’t care who it is. They all should die.” Becca said.

“Becca! Don’t talk like that.” Shel said angrily.

“Well, it’s true.” Becca said, rolling her eyes.

“Jeez, kid. Why the hell are you such a little savage?” Troy asked.

“I don’t know, I just love it.” Becca said ominously. 

* * *

**The Prison**

Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Merle, Kenny, Luke, Mike, Bonnie, and Jane were getting ready for the mission to rescue Rebecca. Hershel approached Kenny while he was getting his weapons ready for the mission. Kenny could sense Hershel walk up behind him, but didn’t want to look at him.

"You know, when I first saw you when you all came in, it wasn’t anger or resentment that I felt. I just felt surprised. Amazed. Amazed and impressed that you survived this long. It was very unexpected.” Hershel said.

Kenny still didn’t look at him and continued what he was doing. 

“Kenny, I feel like I’m talking to a wall. Do you mind looking at me?” Hershel asked politely.

Kenny stopped what he was doing and reluctantly turned around to look at Hershel.

“I've learned a lot since this all started. Rick and his people brought me to my senses. I know why you did what you did. You wanted to protect your boy. I know I would protect my girls no matter what. I would've done the same thing." Hershel said.

“I..I let your boy die.” Kenny said sadly.

“You didn’t. You couldn’t have done anything with your boy in your arms. You saved the child first and that’s what a great man does. I didn’t see that at the time as I was mourning. I understand now.” Hershel said.

“...Duck, my son, he died. He was bit. My wife, she took her own life...She couldn’t live with the grief.” Kenny said tearfully.

Hershel put his hand on Kenny’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry to hear that, Kenny. Your son was a sweet kid. And your wife was very kind. They are together in God’s hands.” Kenny said.

"Thank you, Hershel. I've been struggling a lot through this whole thing. I would think about what happened that day on your farm all the time. And Lee, the guy you met who tried to save your son, he snapped me out of it. He was a great friend. When my wife and son passed...he took care of me. I’ll never forget that." Kenny said emotionally.

"I’m very sure he was. I'm glad we can get passed this. Make sure you come back from the rescue." Hershel said.

"I’m planning on it. I’ll see ya later, Hershel." Kenny said before going over to the rest of the group.

"We ready to go or not?" Jane asked, holstering her pistol.

“When we go out, everyone remember to keep your guard up. We don’t know who might be out there with everything that’s going on.” Rick said.

“Noted. Lets go.” Kenny said.

Clementine ran to catch up to Kenny before he left. "Kenny, be careful out there." He said.

"I will, Clem. Don’t worry." Kenny said.

The group headed into the woods.

**A little bit later...**

The group reached Howes and saw the place crawling with walkers. "It looks overrun. You think anyone could still be here?" Michonne asked.

"Everyone stay close. We’re just gonna check. We can't risk drawing any attention from anyone still here.” Rick said. 

The group moved quickly and quietly towards the camp. Michonne and Jane were taking out walkers along the way. The group snuck in through the hole The Governor made. Daryl went in first aiming his crossbow while Rick and Luke covered the right and left. The rest followed through. 

"Haven’t seen anyone so far." Daryl said lowering his crossbow.

"We have a lot more areas to check." Kenny said.

The group continued checking the building and killing any walkers they came across. It seemed to be completely empty.

"It's way too quiet. Just the sounds of the dead. Nobody's here." Rick said after stabbing a walker coming towards him.

"Yeah, this place is done." Maggie said.

"The only other person who would have her is The Governor. Maybe we should check Woodbury." Glenn suggested.

“We know where they keep prisoners there so that’s a good place to look. Let’s go.” Rick said.

The group left Howes and headed back into the woods.

**Woodbury (Carver’s Group)**

Carver and the rest of the camp finally reached Woodbury. There were several soldiers on the wall. "How're we gonna get passed em'?" Troy asked.

"Follow me. Stay low and quiet." Carver said. He started leading them around the perimeter of the town. They eventually made it to the back where they keep all the walkers for the fighting pits. "Get ready. We're gonna come at em' hard." Carver said. Hank reached into his bag and took out the rocket launcher. He loaded it with one of the 3 missiles and aimed it at the wall.

“Fire.” Carver said. 

Hank fired the rocket launcher and it blew a hole in the wall. The explosion shook the entire town and caught everyone’s attention.

Carver and all his people ran through the hole in the wall and started opening fire on anyone they saw. Bullets ripped through Woodbury citizens as they tried to escape to safety.

Tyreese and Sasha, who were on the main wall, started opening fire from their post. They managed to take out several people.

The Governor, Martinez, Shumpert, Milton and Andrea came running out of the main building. 

“What’s going on?!” Andrea shouted.

“Carver. I knew he’d show up. Milton, Andrea, get to safety.” The Governor said.

“I’m not letting innocent civilians die. I’m helping.” Andrea said.

“Fine, but we’re still killing all of Carver’s people whether you like it or not. I don’t care who they are. They are too much of a threat.” The Governor said. Andrea just shook her head in disappointment. “Kill them all!” The Governor yelled to his soldiers as he started shooting towards the enemies.

Carver spotted a Woodbury citizen nearby who tried to run from them. He caught up to the man and grabbed him. “Where are you keeping Rebecca?!” Carver yelled angrily.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” The guy said. Carver got angry and shot the guy in the head.

“Kill everyone! I want them all dead!” Carver shouted.

**Rick’s Group**

When they finally reached Woodbury, they heard all the gunshots and screams. Smoke from the rocket launcher could be seen in the distance. "The hell's going' on?" Kenny asked.

"It has to be Carver. He would definitely go after Rebecca, too." Bonnie said.

"We know where she's probably being held. We don't need to get into a fight. Follow me." Rick said.

Rick led the group around the back to the door to the warehouse where they hold prisoners. Luke quickly opened the door and Rick, Daryl, and Kenny went in followed by the rest of the group.

"Alright guys, in and out just like we planned." Rick said. Rick, Daryl, and Luke rolled in flash bang grenades. The flash bangs went off and disoriented the guards watching Rebecca. Rick and Michonne gunned them down quickly. They went inside and untied Rebecca.

"Thank God you’re here." Rebecca said.

“We gotta go now.” Rick said urgently. 

The group left the building with Rebecca and started to make their way out of Woodbury.

A Woodbury soldier who heard the commotion ran into the room to see what was happening. He saw that Rebecca was gone and 2 of their men were killed. “Mr. Governor, the woman’s gone. We have two guys down in the chambers.” The guy radioed to The Governor over the walkie-talkie.

"_ How?! Carver hasn’t made it to that area yet." _The Governor said.

"It might’ve been that prison group, sir."

"_ Sh*t! We gotta go after them. We can’t let them escape!" _ The Governor said.

Carver and his crew are still shooting out with the Woodbury soldiers. Carver noticed The Governor, Martinez, and a few soldiers run the opposite direction. "Are they retreating?" Tavia asked.

"No. Looks like something else caught their attention." Carver said.

The Governor, Martinez, Shumpert, Allen, and several others spotted Rick and the others escaping through the building in the far back of the town. 

“There! Don’t let them get away!” The Governor yelled. 

Rick’s group and The Governor’s people engaged in a firefight from the Woodbury streets and the building Rick and co. were escaping from. 

The Governor stopped firing to look closely at who was there. He saw Michonne. The one person he hates the most in all of this. The one he wants Rick to hand over. The one who killed his undead daughter and took out his eye. The Governor became furious and focused all fire from his Steyr AUG on Michonne’s position. 

Luke saw that Michonne was pinned down by gunfire. “Rick! Toss me a grenade!” He shouted. Rick tossed Luke a grenade, who then hurled it right at The Governor’s position. The Governor managed to jump out of the way before it exploded, but several of his men were killed instead.

The explosion caused a good enough distraction for Rick and the others to escape into the woods.

Meanwhile, Carver’s people and The Governor’s people were still in an open shootout on the streets. Tyreese and Sasha had a good position from the gate and managed to take out multiple enemies. “Sh*t. We're losing too many people." Carver said to Troy from behind cover. 

“I got an idea. Blow them motherf*ckers up.” Troy said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Carver said. “Hank! We need you to fire off that rocket launcher again.” 

“On it.” Hank said. He loaded the launcher with a rocket and shot it towards a cluster of 6 Woodbury guards, who were brutally blown apart.

The Governor witnessed his people being blown up and became increasingly angry. He came out firing his Steyr AUG at Carver and Troy’s position. 

"Where's Rebecca?!" Carver shouted in the distance.

"You’re too late. Someone else got her first. I'm afraid she's long gone, Bill!" The Governor shouted back.

"Motherf*cker!" Carver yelled and fired his AK-47 at him. The Governor barely flinched and fired back, hitting Carver in the shoulder. “Aaargh!” Carver groaned in pain.

Troy assessed the wound and helped Carver up. “Bill, we need to go now!” Troy said.

"You’re right. There’s no reason for us to be here anymore. Everyone retreat back into the forest!” Carver yelled.

Before Hank retreated with the others, he loaded one more rocket and fired at one of the Woodbury buildings. The rocket went through one of the building’s windows and exploded from the inside, creating a huge fireball. The shockwave knocked over everyone nearby, including The Governor.

“Had to give them something to remember.” Hank said with a smirk.

“Good job. Let’s go.” Troy said.

Carver, Troy, Tavia, Hank, Vince, Russel, and the remaining 14 people of the camp retreated into the forest.

The Governor and everyone knocked back by the explosion got back on their feet. Some were injured from broken glass and debris. The Governor looked all around him in horror. He saw the damage that was done to his home. The bodies of Woodbury soldiers and citizens littered the ground as the bodies of the 6 guards who were blown up continued burning to a crisp. The building that was blown up was raging with fire.

“I’ll gather everyone in town and we’ll put these fires out.” Martinez said. He saw that The Governor wasn’t all that present in the head. “You all right, man?” 

“There were citizens hiding in that building…” The Governor said calmly. Martinez just looked down sadly. “He killed unarmed citizens...” The Governor said.

“I know, Governor. But right now, we have to worry about putting out this fire and preventing all the dead from turning.” Martinez said.

The Governor didn’t hear a word Martinez said as he was too deep in his thoughts. All he had on his mind now was to kill all of his enemies once and for all and no matter what.


	5. Closing In

Carver and the rest of his people were resting in the woods after escaping Woodbury. One of them was tending to Carver’s bullet wound in the shoulder.

“Well that mission was a complete failure.” Vince said.

“Well we could’ve beat them if we had more explosives. We still took out a lot of their fighters.” Russel said.

“We still lost way too many people. We escaped with half the number of people we went in with.” Troy said. “Bill. I told you this was a bad idea from the jump!” He said in a frustrated tone.

“We did significant damage to him at least. The sound of the explosions is gonna draw a lot of walkers towards them.” Carver said.

"And what about us, Bill? What the hell do we do now?" Troy asked.

"We can shift our focus away from The Governor for now," Carver said as he stood up. "It seems like Luke and the rest of em' go to Rebecca before we could. They must've gotten help from that group we captured back at the camp." He said.

"So we going after em' or what?" Russel asked.

"Not right now in the shape I'm in. No one goes anywhere until I'm ready to move." Carver said as he was being patched up.

“Wait a minute, did anyone notice before we went into the town that a few people were missing? I haven’t seen Shel and Becca since we stopped to rest earlier. And I haven’t seen Wyatt since we first got into the town.” Tavia said.

“They were talking about leaving earlier. They didn’t want to be a part of the attack.” Vince said.

“Those cowards.” Carver said.

“It was probably for the best.” Troy said.

* * *

**The Forest(Rick's Group)**

Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Merle, Kenny, Luke, Mike, Bonnie, Jane, and Rebecca were walking back to the prison.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. I didn’t know what was gonna happen to me.” Rebecca said.

“No problem.” Rick said.

“Rebecca, did they hurt you at all in there. Did they hurt your baby?” Bonnie asked concerningly.

"No, not really. I was scared, though. He kidnapped me to get Bill to come so he could kill him.” Rebecca said.

"There were a lot of gunshots and explosions back there. We don’t know who ended up winning that fight. Bill could be dead for all we know.” Luke said.

"No matter who won, we'll still have someone on our backs." Kenny said.

"You're right. Best we stay cautious of that. Everyone be on the lookout for any oncoming threats.” Rick said.

As the group was walking, a walker emerged from the dense vegetation. Before Michonne could pull out her sword, Wyatt came up behind the walker and stabbed it in the head. Rick immediately pointed his python at him.

“Oh my God, Wyatt?” Bonnie said surprisingly.

“You know this guy?” Rick asked with his gun still on Wyatt.

"Wyatt? Dude, what are you doing here? I thought you were with Carver?” Luke asked. Rick lowered his gun upon realizing that they know him.

"I had to leave that guy. He’s lost his mind. We were on our way to fight The Governor and I thought it would be suicide so I bailed. I’m not even sure if the rest survived." Wyatt said.

"Well, will you stay with us?" Luke asked.

"F*ck, yeah. I have nowhere else to go, so it's not like I have a choice." Wyatt said.

"Good to have you here.” Luke said.

“We have a prison. It’s our home. It’s safe there.” Maggie said.

“That’s awesome, let’s go.” Wyatt said.

The group continued towards the prison.

* * *

**Woodbury**

The surviving civilians of Woodbury and the remaining soldiers were carrying away the dead or wounded. The fire from the building destroyed by the rocket launcher was finally out and some people were at the walls killing all the walkers that were drawn from the fight. "We lost a lot of good people." Martinez said looking down at one of the bodies.

"Carver’s gonna pay for this. He made this whole thing personal. I want him and Michonne in my grasp.” The Governor said.

"So what now?” Martinez asked.

"We can't let him get back to his camp at Howes. He could gather more people there if he has any. We have to go after them now.” The Governor said.

Andrea jumped into the conversation upon hearing what The Governor said. "But we just lost so many people. Do you really wanna go any further with this?" She asked frustratingly.

"Can't risk him coming back and doing more damage.” The Governor said.

"And we can't risk losing anymore people either!" Andrea said angrily.

The Governor gave her a menacing stare. "If you don’t like it...go be with your old friends at the prison. I’m sure they miss you.” He said. “Everyone move out! Let’s get this son of a b*tch.” 

Andrea stormed away in angrily. The Governor and several others got into trucks and drove out of town to find Carver.

* * *

** The Prison **

****

The group arrived back at the prison. Carl and Carol opened the gates as Clementine, Carlos, Sarah, Nick, and Sarita came out to meet them. "You guys made it!" Carl said.

"Yeah, I did." Rick said patting Carl on the shoulder.

Clementine went to Kenny and hugged him as well as Sarita.

"Good to see you safe, Rebecca." Carlos said as he went to hug her.

Rebecca hugged Clementine, Sarah, and Nick. "I'm alright." She said.

"You brought back her back safely. I knew you would." Hershel said.

“Yeah, we did. But we have a problem.” Rick said.

“We may have just revamped this thing with The Governor by attacking Woodbury again. He could be getting ready to come after us right now.” Daryl said.

“Yeah, we should get inside now. We’re too vulnerable out here in the open.” Rick said. The group went back into the prison together.

* * *

A little later, the group was sitting at the tables socializing and eating. “I want to thank you all again for bringing us into your home. I didn’t know what we’d do after we eventually escaped Carver’s camp.” Carlos said. “I’m just glad my daughter, Sarah, now has a place to live and be safe.”

“It’s what we do. We help people. There’s still good people out there. Has to be.” Glenn said. 

"This prison isn't like the lodge, but at least we have places to sleep and relax." Sarah said.

"Thank God for that." Kenny said.

“Carver’s place was pretty impressive. It’s a shame he had to go batsh*t insane. The walkers have that place now. This place is cool too. Two layers of fences, food, weapons, ammunition, places to sleep. You have it all. I’m just glad you guys brought me in. Don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise.” Wyatt said.

"So, how long you all been staying here?" Luke asked.

"We've only been here a couple of weeks." Beth said. She was holding Judith and feeding her milk.

"Who's baby is it?" Clementine asked.

"Rick's. Her mother didn't survive the birth." Hershel said sadly.

"That’s awful. I’m so sorry to hear that." Rebecca said to Rick.

"Can I ask what happened to your leg?" Nick asked Hershel.

"I was bit. Rick was the one who cut it off. Saved my life." Hershel said.

"But...Lee tried cutting off his arm when he was bitten, but it didn't work." Clementine said.

"Lee didn't get to it fast enough. I’m sorry, Clem..." Glenn said.

"Maybe I was wrong about him, Clementine. I’m sure Lee was a really great man." Hershel said.

"Yeah, he was." Clementine said sadly.

“Some of us should go outside to keep watch.” Rick said as he got up from one of the tables. “We don’t know who came out on top of that fight back in Woodbury, so either Carver or The Governor or both could be after us. We need to be prepared for anything.”

* * *

**In the woods(Carver’s Group)**

Carver and his group finally reached the prison. Everyone was at their posts taking watch. Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Glenn were in the towers and Luke and Nick were on the bridge.

"They have lookout." Hank said looking through the scope of his rifle.

"Alright, I want-" Carver paused when he heard the sound of vehicles coming straight their way. It was The Governor along with two other trucks.

"Shit!" Carver said picking up his ak-47.

As the trucks were getting closer, The Governor opened the top of his truck and opened fire on them with his assault rifle. Martinez, Shumpert, and the rest did the same. Carver and the rest of the camp returned fire. “I want Carver alive!” The Governor shouted to his people as he was shooting.

* * *

Rick and everyone else that was keeping watch outside heard the gunfire from their posts. “What the hell is that?” Nick asked as he looked in the direction of gunfire with his binoculars.

“It’s definitely happening close by.” Luke said. 

Rick came out of the tower with Daryl and shouted towards the others, “Everyone get inside now!”. Luke and Nick ran into the prison.

"_ Rick what the hell is going on?!" _Glenn shouted over the walkie-talkie.

"It's Carver and the Governor. They’re close. Stay low and get inside as quickly as possible." Rick said. 

* * *

Carver and the remaining members of the camp managed to take out a lot of the Woodbury guards but they were still no match for their better weapons. One of them jumped on top of one of the army trucks and took control of the 50 cal turret. He opened fire and ripped through Carver’s group, killing most of them. Blood and body parts flew everywhere upon impact.

“Oh, sh*t!” Troy screamed, jumping behind a car for cover along with Carver, Tavia, Hank, Vince, and Russel. The guy stopped firing to reload, which allowed Carver to pop out of cover and shoot him down.

"Sh*t. They took out too many of us." Carver said as he continued shooting.

“Gee, you don’t say, Bill?!” Troy said sarcastically.

Carver grunted in frustration. "Let's get back home to Howes. That herd probably passed through by now. And we can get more weapons and ammo." Carver said. Troy, Tavia, Hank, Vince, and Russel followed him back into the woods towards Howes.

The Governor finished gunning down the rest of Carver’s group and looked around for Carver, he noticed he was gone. "He got away." The Governor said frustratingly.

"Again?! How many times do we have to follow this guy?!" Martinez asked.

"Next time I'll have to get up close and personal with him. Make sure he doesn’t get away. Let’s get back to Woodbury for now. I have a little...project I’m working on." The Governor said ominously.

"Everybody, back into the trucks! We're going back to town!" Martinez shouted. Everyone got back in the vehicles and drove off.

* * *

**Inside the prison**

“We need to do something about them. Now that we got Rebecca, those a**holes are gonna follow us everywhere we go.” Kenny said.

Rick was pacing back and forth. "They're becoming too much of a problem. More incidents like that and we could lose the prison." Rick said.

"We take them out. All of them. Carver should be almost done for after his attack on Woodbury. Let’s finish him off." Dary said.

"D*mn right, baby brother. We need to put a bullet in the Governor already.” Merle said.

"I'm not missing my chance to kill the Governor." Michonne said.

"You will if I get to him first.” Merle said.

“We’re not doing anything yet. We have to be smart about this.” Rick said.

“You know good and well we don’t have time for that, Officer Friendly. The Governor can attack at any time.” Merle said.

“Fighting two enemies at once won’t be easy. You know that.” Rick said.

“I don’t have love for any of the people here besides my baby brother, so I don’t care if you wanna get all these people killed by sitting around with your tail between your legs waiting for The Governor to pick us off. Just keep my out of it. I’m gonna do what’s right.” Merle said as Rick was just staring angrily at him.

Just then, the group heard a sound coming from deep into the prison. “What the hell was that?” Kenny asked.

“Stay close.” Rick said as he unholstered his colt python.

Rick, Daryl, Kenny, Luke, Michonne, and Jane, readied their weapons. They slowly made their way down the dark, quiet tombs with flashlights. They heard the noises again. Then they heard voices.

"Who could that be?" Luke asked.

They turned the corner and spotted Shel and Becca arguing in the cellblock. They stopped when they saw the group pointing guns at them. 

"Shel, Becca?" Luke said in a surprised tone.

"Luke! Thank God." Shel said. Rick and the others lowered their guns upon seeing that Luke knows them.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

“Bill has gone insane. I mean, attacking that town? That’s suicide. I got me and Becca out of there before the attack. I don’t even know what happened there. They could all be dead…” Shel said.

“I still think we could’ve taken them.” Becca said.

"You think we can trust em'?" Daryl asked.

“We can definitely trust them. They aren’t a threat at all.” Luke assured.

"Follow us." Rick sighed. Rick and the others led Shel and Becca back to the rest of the group.

"Everybody, this is Shel and Becca." Rick said.

"Oh my God. Shel, Becca? What're you doing here?" Rebecca asked hugging Shel. Clementine kind of recognized them too. She remembered Becca as the girl that insulted her and Sarah. Shel and Becca greeted the rest of their old friends.

Becca looked over at Sarah, who was sitting by herself. "Sarah is the same old scaredy cat, I bet?" Becca teased her. Sarah just turned away. Clementine stared at Becca intensely.

"Don't you talk about my daughter that way, little girl." Carlos said angrily.

"Becca, we just got here. Don't cause any problems already. This is their home." Shel said.

"Whatever." Becca said.

"That girl is gonna be tough for the kids to get used to." Hershel whispered to Rick.

“Yeah, I see.” Rick said.

“Especially Clem.” Kenny said.


End file.
